March 26, 2016

Holy Sat

March 26, 2016:  Holy Saturday / Easter Vigil

See some 50 connections with today?
Legend below
Listen

  • More Easter Vigil Mass chants including fire blessing, candle prep, procession, litany of the Saints, blessing of water and acclamation, and florid dismissal
Pope Francis

Stations of the Cross prayer
O Cross of Christ...
Easter Vigil homily:  Let Christ in
What was going through Peter as he ran to the tomb?  Doubt, worry, sadness, and disillusionment.  He thought the women's testimony was an idle tale, but after he heard them, “he rose”; he didn't stay home like the others, succumb to the somber atmosphere of those days, or let his doubts overwhelm him.  He wasn't consumed by remorse or fear.  He was looking for Jesus, preferring the path of encounter and trust.  He got up, ran towards the tomb, and returned amazed; it was Peter’s resurrection, the resurrection of his heart.  He made room for hope; he allowed God to enter.  The women who had gone out to perform a work of mercy, taking ointments to the tomb, had the same experience:  they were frightened, but the angel's words deeply affected them.
We, like them, can't discover life by being sad and hopeless.  Don't stay imprisoned; break open and let the Lord enter and give life.  Give him your rancor and past, your weaknesses and falls; he wants to bring you out of anguish.  The first stone to be moved is the lack of hope, which imprisons us.  May the Lord free us from the trap of being hopeless Christians living as if the Lord were not risen, as if our problems were the center of our lives.  We'll always have problems, but we must shed the Lord's light on them, “evangelize” them.  Don't allow darkness and fear to distract or control you; tell them the Lord has risen!  He'll never let us down.
Our hope isn't mere optimism or courage; God gives us Christian hope if we open our hearts to him, and it won't disappoint us because the Spirit has been poured into our hearts.  The Spirit doesn't make everything look appealing or magically remove evil; he gives us life, not the absence of problems but the certainty of Christ's love and forgiveness.  Today we celebrate our hope and the truth that nothing will ever be able to separate us from his love.
The Lord is alive and wants to be sought among the living.  After we find him, he sends us out to announce the Easter message, to awaken and resurrect hope in sad hearts struggle to find meaning.  We must not proclaim ourselves; as servants of hope, we must announce the Risen One by our lives and our love, or else we'll just be an organization of followers and rules incapable of offering the hope the world longs for. 
We can strengthen our hope by remembering God's works.  God's living word can involve us in this history of love, nourish our hope, and renew our joy.  “Remember what He told you.”  Don't forget his words and works, but remember the Lord, his goodness and his life-giving words and make them ours.  Help others see the signs of the Risen Lord.  Open your hearts to hope and go forth.  May the memory of his works and words direct our steps towards the Easter that will have no end.
Read
    • Gn 1:1-2:2  Earth was formless.  God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.  He separated light from darkness, created sky, earth, sea, plants, trees, sun, moon, stars, sea creatures, birds, cattle, creeping things, and wild animals.  God made human beings in the divine image, gave them dominion, looked at everything, found it very good, and rested.
    • Ps 104:1-2, 5-6, 10, 12-14, 24, 35  "Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth."  Bless the Lord; in wisdom you created and sustain everything.
    • Ps 33:4-7, 12-13, 20, 22  "The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord."  The Lord's works are trustworthy.  Blessed those God has chosen.  We wait for the Lord, our help.
    • Gn 22:1-18  God put Abraham to the test:  “Offer your only son as a holocaust.”  He went out and prepared for the sacrifice, but an angel told him to stop; he found and offered a ram.  “Because you obeyed, I'll bless you with land and descendents.”
    • Ps 16:5, 8-11  "You are my inheritance, O Lord."  I rejoice because you show me the path to life and joy and won't abandon me.
    • Ex 14:15-15:1  Lord to Moses, “Go with the Israelites, split the sea, and pass on the dry land.  The Egyptians will pursue you, but through them I'll receive glory.”  God led them with a cloud, they crossed.  Egyptians pursued them, but their wheels clogged, water flowed back, and they drowned.  The Israelites saw, believed, and sang.
    • Ex 15:1-6, 17-18  "Let us sing to the Lord; he has covered himself in glory."  I praise the Lord, my God, savior, strength, courage; he redeemed us and hurled Pharaoh's army into the sea.  Your powerful right hand shattered the enemy.
    • Is 54:5-14  The Lord, your redeemer, the Holy One, calls you back.  I abandoned you briefly but now take you back tenderly.  My love shall never leave you.
    • Ps 30:2, 4-6, 11-13  "I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me."  For his anger lasts but a moment; a lifetime, his good will.
    • Is 55:1-11  Come to the water!  Eat and drink!  Heed me, and you shall eat well; listen and live.  I'll renew the covenant with you.  Seek and call the Lord; God generously forgives.  My thoughts and ways are higher than yours.  My word won't return to me till it does my will.
    • Is 12:2-6  "You will draw water joyfully from the springs of salvation."  The Lord has been my savior.  Praise the Lord for his glorious achievement; proclaim his deeds and name.
    • Bar 3:9-15, 32-4:4  You've forsaken the fountain of wisdom!  Prudence, strength, understanding, life, peace, and wisdom are in God.  Receive Wisdom and walk by her light.
    • Ps 19:8-11  "Lord, you have the words of everlasting life."
    • Ez 36:16-17a, 18-28  I scattered the House of Israel because of their idolatry, but I've relented.  I'll gather you and bring you back, cleanse you, give you a new heart and spirit, and make you live by my statutes and be my people.
    • Ps 42:3, 5; 43:3, 4  "Like a deer that longs for running streams, my soul longs for you, my God."  Send your light to lead me to you, and I'll go to God's altar and thank you.
    • Is 12:2-4bcd, 5-6  "You will draw water joyfully from the springs of salvation."  God is my savior, strength, and courage; sing praise!
    • Ps 51:12-15, 18-19  "Create a clean heart in me, O God."  Give me back the joy of your salvation, and I'll teach your ways.  You'll accept my sacrifice, a contrite spirit.
    • Rom 6:3-11  We were baptized into Christ's death, buried with him so we might live a new life, united with him in the resurrection.  Our old self was crucified with him, that we might no longer be slaves of sin; we'll live with him.  Death has no power over the risen Christ.  Think of yourselves as dead to sin and living in Christ for God.
    • Ps 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23  "Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia."  Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his mercy endures forever.  I'll live and declare God's works.  The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.
    • Mt 28:1-10  Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to the tomb.  An angel rolled back the stone, and told them, “Fear not!  Look:  Jesus has been raised from the dead; go tell his disciples.  They went and announced it.  Jesus met them on the way:  “Fear not; tell my brothers to go to Galilee and see me.”
    Reflect
      • One Bread, One Body:  "Good news from the grave":  While Jesus was buried, he preached to the spirits in prison."  "The reason the gospel was preached even to the dead was that... they might live in God's eyes."  Jesus said he came to "proclaim the good news."  To share fully in Jesus, we must proclaim the good news....
      • Passionist:  How did the disciples feel today?  After the Passover meal and Jesus’ arrest, fake trial, death sentence, way of the cross, and crucifixion, likely bewildered and confused.  Unlike them, we know what happens next, but we can face the same questions.  What difference does Jesus' cross and resurrection make in my life?  What am I to do?  What changes should I make?  Am I more ready to see Jesus in the world and the people around me?  Am I more ready to love and forgive?...
      • DailyScripture.net:  "They laid him in a rock-hewn tomb":  Jesus tasted death for everyone. The bodies of executed criminals were usually left as carrion for vultures and dogs, but thanks to Joseph of Arimathea. Jesus was spared this indignity.  Joseph didn't stand up for Jesus at his trial but still honored him with a proper burial.  No tomb could contain the Lord for long.  The mystery of Christ's lying in the tomb reveals God's great rest of God after the fulfillment of our salvation.  Is my hope founded in the resurrection of Christ and in his promises?
      New fire:
      Exsultet visual
      Dress legend
      • Blue in suspenders:  water, God-created, of Red Sea, of baptism...; "I'll sprinkle clean water on you..."; "You'll draw water joyfully from the springs of salvation"
      • 'Plants' pin:  God made the plants (I can represent trees, birds, cattle, wild animals, and people too but drew the line.)
      • 'Fish with cross' pin:  God made fish; Jesus is risen
      • 'Bird,' 'cow,' 'lion' pins:  God created birds, cattle, creeping things, wild animals...; "
      • 'Star' tie pin:  God made the stars; Christ the Morning Star; "I'll make your descendants as countless as the stars of the sky..."
      • 'Sheep' tie bar: Abraham: "God will provide sheep for the holocaust"
      • 'Wood' tie pin:  Abraham took wood for the holocaust...
      • 'Hand' tie pin:  "Abraham, don't lay your hand on the boy"; "with the Lord at my right hand I shall not be disturbed"; "you'll show me delights at your right hand"; Moses stretched his hand to split [and unsplit] the sea; Your magnificent right hand has shattered the enemy; The Lord's right hand of the Lord has struck with power; the Lord's right hand is exalted.
      • 'Rams' tie:  Abraham found a ram caught by its horns to offer up in place of his son.
      • 'Chariot' tie pin:  Pharaoh's chariots
      • 'Horse' tie pin:  "Horse and rider he cast into the sea"
      • 'Phone' tie bar:  "The Lord 'calls' you back; 'call' him while he is near"; when God 'calls' the stars, they answer
      • 'Owl' tie pin:  "in wisdom you have wrought your works"; the Lord's decree gives wisdom to the simple; "who has found the place of wisdom?"
      • 'Eyeball' pin:  The Lord's command enlightens the eye.
      • 'Hearts' suspenders:  "Create a clean heart in me"; "I'll give you a new heart..."; "My sacrifice is a contrite heart"; "my heart is glad because you won't abandon me"; The Lord's precepts rejoice the heart
      • 'Bees' knees' button:  The Lord's ordinances are sweeter than honey; tiny bees made candle's honey (Exsultet)
      • 'Stone' tie pin:  "I'll take your stony hearts from your bodies"; "angel rolled away the stone"; "I'll make your walls of precious 'stones'"; The stone the builders rejected became the cornerstone; They saw the large stone had been rolled back.
      • 'Deer' tie pin:  "Like a deer that longs for running streams, my soul longs for You."
      • 'Peace sign' tie bar:  "Though the mountains leave their place, my covenant of peace won't be shaken"
      • 'Grain' pin:  "You who have no money, come, receive grain and eat"
      • 'Blood drop' pin:  "The house of Israel poured out blood on the ground, so I poured out my fury, but I've relented."
      • White shirt:  "His clothing was white as snow"; On entering the tomb they saw a man clothed in a white robe; color of the day
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